Rivalry takes on friendlier tone

History will be made tonight when football players from rivals Central and Jackson hit the field for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Jackson.

A rivalry that spans more than 90 years will be renewed for the 100th time.

Friends will line up opposite each other and take their seats in the home and visitors sections. Generations of former Central and Jackson players will watch a game which has taken on great meaning for the two neighboring communities.

As part of the opening-game ceremonies, alumni from both teams will be invited to take the field to shake hands with their former rivals.

So why, after all this time, does this game still mean so much?

"I think the big thing naturally is they all know each other -- they play ball in the summer -- and the close proximity of the schools," Central Junior High athletic director Terry Kitchen said.

Kitchen, a 1970 Central graduate, has seen the rivalry from many different angles.

For more than a decade, Kitchen helped groom Tigers football players for the rivalry game, heading the junior high program. Kitchen also led the Tigers athletics program as athletics director for 12 years before moving over to the junior high.

"You want to beat each other, but when the game is over with, we know our job is to educate kids and work together," Kitchen said.

Tonight, Kitchen will get to play the part of proud parent as his son, Kory, takes the field for Central.

Meanwhile, his former Central teammate, Carl Gross, will line up for the 18th season as the head coach of the Indians.

This rivalry has many sides -- from parent to player to coach -- and sometimes people even change sides.

Each squad has at least one former player on its coaching staff.

It will be hard to find someone in the stands who does not have a direct connection to the game, which makes it even more meaningful.

"I think what makes it so good is people in two communities who know each other who can say we're the best and want to prove it," said Jim Woeltje, a 1956 Jackson graduate and lifelong Indians fan.

Central leads the all-time series 56-36-7. Both sides have controlled the series at times, although from the 1940s through the 1980s the Tigers held a decided edge.

From 1961 through 1974 the Tigers were unbeaten, with one tie. Since 1992, the Indians have won all but three meetings.

"Harking back to my day, we were the small, country school and they were the big city school," Woeltje said. "We were the underdogs, and now that's kind of turned around and we're the bigger school."

Added Woeltje: "I think the rivalry is a good rivalry for both communities. I like the way it's changed, being a Jackson graduate. I'm looking forward to it."

Over the years, the rivalry has been tamed a bit. Both sides want to win, but the series has been free of incidents that marred some of the early meetings.

"They're still friends after it's over, whether they put on the red and white, or the orange," Central alumni Gary Schuessler said. "That's how it is."

The series has had its ugly moments. One of the first games in the rivalry in 1914 was marred by a fight which reportedly involved fighting between players and fans.

"There's been a lot of hype that surrounds the Cape Central and Jackson game for a lot of years," Gross said. "The biggest thing I've seen is I think it was a bitter rivalry when I first came here, and now it's more of a friendly rivalry. Probably because kids on both teams know each other better. It's not a long drive there to Cape anymore like it used to be."

Woeltje agreed: "I think at one time there was more bitterness. I don't see that anymore. I see this as a friendly rivalry. The two communities worked together to help make it more of a friendly rivalry."

Once the dust clears from meeting No. 100 tonight, fans will move on to the next game, but in the back of their minds, they'll be gearing up for the next Central-Jackson meeting already.

For the kids in the stands, their thoughts will drift to the day when they get to run out of the tunnel in the orange and black of Central or the red and white of Jackson.

"It's a fun game for the kids," Gross said. "The big thing is a lot of the young bucks will be sitting in the stands and thinking about one day playing for Jackson or Central."

And while neither team's season will be made or lost with the Week 6 game, a win will taste that much sweeter for fans and players alike.

Woeltje, who's graduation class just celebrated its 50th reunion, said a win over Central was a big deal to his classmates.

"If we were 1-9 and we beat Central, that would be a good season," he said with a laugh. "That's kind of an exaggeration, but that was the key victory."